Carnival Knowledge: Mardi Gras has literary traditions, too

STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANDERSONEndymion float designer Henri Schindler stands with one of the floats for the krewe's 2008 parade, which has as its theme, "A Salute to Rudyard Kipling.'

By Susan LarsonBook editor

The literary mystique of New Orleans comes to life during Carnival, when well-loved tales from literature come down the street at parade speed, with inspiration drawn from both classic and contemporary works. Books -- more than music, more than movies -- are the leading inspiration for Carnival parades.

This year alone, there are four literary parades. The Krewe of Oshun took us back to "Once Upon a Time," with floats devoted to such childhood classics as "The Cat in the Hat," "Curious George" and "Where the Wild Things Are." The Hermes parade Friday will be devoted to the classic Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. The Endymion procession takes as its theme "Endymion's Salute to Rudyard Kipling." On Mardi Gras Day, Zulu revelers will see 27 floats devoted to "The World of Legends, Heroes and Folklore."

During Carnival, readers see stories pass by in the form of floats.

"Mythology has been the underlying wellspring for Carnival as a whole," said Henri Schindler, Carnival historian and float designer for several krewes. "Books have so many powerful stories and characters."

The Krewe of Barkus has come up with some of the most witty literary themes -- "Harry Pawter and the Sorcerer's Bone" in 2005, "The Wizard of Paws" in 2006, and last year's unforgettable "Streetdog Named Desire." These literary references adorn posters and T-shirts still sold to benefit the Louisiana SPCA.

The very names of Carnival krewes are drawn from African, Greek, Egyptian, Nordic and Roman mythology; other krewes -- Excalibur, King Arthur, Shangri-La and Tucks -- draw on references to characters or mythical places or symbols.

In designing this year's Endymion parade, Schindler drew on Kipling's novels and poems.

"Kipling was a really good choice," Schindler said. "It's a mix of well-known novels and characters -- the Jungle Books, Rikki-Tikki Tavi, Kim, and Gunga Din and the Road to Mandalay -- and others drawn from the hundreds of poems he's written."

And with typical Schindler wit, the parade puts a contemporary spin on the classics. In one float devoted to the poem "The Power of the Dog," viewers will see a canine claw clutching Michael Vick's jersey.

Does Schindler think people are aware of the stories behind the splendor?

"Frankly, no," he said. "In the old days, they were, when the newspaper published descriptions of every parade. I know mythology from reading what Pie Dufour wrote about the Carnival pageants in the newspaper," Schindler said. "But now ..."

"The tradition of storytelling was more important before the throws became so important," said Loyola University English professor Barbara Ewell, a founding member of the Krewe of Muses. "But the krewes are still plundering literature to get something fresh. We certainly are still being reminded of these stories in a very public way, and that's pretty unique."

Ewell recalls the moment when Muses was selected as the name of her krewe.

"We thought about the Maenads or the Sirens," she said. "And the minute someone said 'Muses,' everyone said, 'Of course!' It was straight out of Greek mythology and it resonated with the city streets. And the nine Muses celebrate the arts, and encouraging the arts fit our intentions nicely.

"I think that krewes now are more conscious of creating a narrative ... look at that Muses comic book!"

Reading the parade
During the Golden Age of Carnival -- from the 1870s to the 1930s, when the parade rather than the throw was the thing -- krewes mounted elaborate processions on literary themes. It was a time when, as Schindler puts it, "a classical education was de rigueur."

One parade in particular marched into history: the 1873 Comus parade, "The Missing Links, Darwin's Origin of the Species." Putting its own distinctive spin on Charles Darwin's bestseller, the krewe mercilessly satirized Reconstruction-era politicians.

Another notable literary parade was the 1989 Rex procession, devoted to the life and work of Lafcadio Hearn, bringing a renewed public interest.

The Carnival bulletins from the Golden Age, found in archives at the Louisiana State Museum, the Historic New Orleans Collection and the New Orleans Public Library, tell the story. Tulane University's Howard-Tilton Library has a large selection of Mardi Gras memorabilia and an online exhibit at http://specialcollections.tulane.edu/Carnival, and welcomes donations to its holdings.

Splashed across the tables of the quiet reading room at Tulane, the Carnival bulletins are part storybook, part Cliffs Notes. In 1914, Comus presented "Tales of Chaucer," with floats devoted to individual tales; on the back side of the procession's art, there are annotated descriptions of each float. The 1930 Comus bulletin, devoted to "The Legend of Faust," is as contemporary in appearance as any graphic novel published today.

But the bulletins are not the only record of Carnival literary history. The float designs -- and costume designs -- also tell the story.

The Rex parade of 1958, celebrating "Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales," is rendered in glorious watercolor detail, float by float; it is easy to imagine these drawings transformed into illustrated books.

The costume designs for the 1914 Comus parade carried out the theme of Chaucer's characters as well. On the back of each costume drawing is a list of measurements of the krewe member for whom the costume was intended; most have holes at the top where the illustration was tacked to the wall while a tailor or seamstress worked.

When writers become riders

In addition to serving as inspirations for parades, contemporary writers have also appeared before adoring crowds.

In Metairie, the krewe of Argus drew its 2007 inspiration from "Buddy Stall's Louisiana," a tribute to the popular local historian.

Best-selling novelist Anne Rice rode on her own float in the 1998 Orpheus parade, and was named Literary Muse of the krewe.

In 2007, Louisiana poet laureate Brenda Marie Osbey was the Honorary Muse of Love Poetry in the Muses parade. It's not every town where you can see your poet laureate coming down the street on a giant shoe.

Booklovers have their own celebrations too. The Krewe of Libris, founded three years ago by the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, is the ball krewe for booklovers. Queen Thalia and Libris III, Anne Pincus and her husband, Ron, were crowned last week; they were costumed as Gov. Earl Long and Blaze Starr. Queen Mother is Rosemary James and Court Jester is Joseph DeSalvo Jr. of Faulkner House Books.

The ball's 2008 theme? "Set in New Orleans," of course.

No end in sight

English professor Teresa Toulouse, formerly of Tulane University, now at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is a longtime Carnival observer.

"These are the scriptures of the city," she said. "And reading is reading is reading. Who knows? Ten years from now, I wouldn't be surprised to see a float coming down the street with a house on top and that crisscross, and above it all Chris Rose's head spinning around, for '1 Dead in Attic.' Anything that floats up gets transformed into the mythos of Carnival, and that's always about ourselves.

"The city is always talking to itself about itself. Writers have become as ingrained in the culture as food. Take that Lafcadio Hearn parade of 1989. We know he's ours, whether we read him or not."

Muses' Barbara Ewell put it another way: "We are constantly telling stories," she said. "It's a Southern thing, but it's a New Orleans thing, too."

Book editor Susan Larson can be reached at slarson@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3457.